Edmonson holds annual farm dinner

Published 6:00 pm, Tuesday, November 17, 2009

EDMONSON — Just more than 100 Plainview businessmen and Edmonson farmers turned out Tuesday for the annual Edmonson Farm Dinner.

The dinner is a tradition for the two communities that dates back to the 1940s, and, although they missed a couple of years, a recent rejuvenation shows the dinner going strong again.

This year’s keynote speaker was Tom Sell, a Lubbock attorney who has partnered with former Congressman Larry Combest to form the lobbying firm Combest, Sell and Associates.

Sell told the group that the firm focuses on helping educate the media and legislators on the importance of agriculture, as well as lobbying Congress on behalf of agriculture.

Locally, the firm is active with the Southwest Council of Agribusiness in Lubbock.

In fact, Sell told the group gathered at the Edmonson Community Center for turkey and all the trimmings that the longtime alliance between business and farming represented by the dinner was exactly the type of thing he and his colleagues support.

"What a great and rich tradition y’all have here in this farm dinner," he told the group.

As Sell talked about the environment in which the ag industry finds itself, he pointed out that the industry faces a very vocal and well-funded opposition, characterized by people with little understanding of agriculture and its importance to not only the economy but the very survival of civilization.

After all, he pointed out, with the world population expected to grow to more than 9 billion by 2050, agricultural production of food and fiber is going to have to double.

Sell said he is not nearly as concerned about issues like climate change as he is about helping farmers come up with ways to double production.

One of the main things he does as a lobbyist, he said, is try to make sure America’s farmers don’t get their safety net taken away.

Sell pointed out that contrary to popular belief, farm programs were not a 20th century development. The founding fathers went to great lengths to establish the importance of agriculture, he said.

Unfortunately, he continued, "There is just a fundamental lack of understanding about what you guys do. We need you guys in a desperate way."

Sell told the farmers and business representatives that despite the frustrations they face, they have to keep working to get out the word on what they do. They have to be just as vocal as the opposition.

"As we all know, a voice that is not heard is a voice that is not counted."